Deuteronomy 4:20
New English Translation
20 You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace,[a] to be his special people[b] as you are today.
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- Deuteronomy 4:20 tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
- Deuteronomy 4:20 tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.
Deuteronomy 4:20
New International Version
20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,(A) out of Egypt,(B) to be the people of his inheritance,(C) as you now are.
Deuteronomy 4:20
King James Version
20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
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